Zootopia: Press Conference AU
by CAPTAINPRICE79
Summary: Instead of being stopped by reporters, Judy manages to get through and chase after Nick. Fluff ensues


**Hey guys Price here and welcome to a Zootopia oneshot sort of inspired by I Need You by Kalum16 on . It's set around the PCD, which is the Press Conference Disaster. You all know the one. The difference is that Judy manages to get through the reporters before Nick can disappear instead of being held back. That's all I'm saying for this. If you want to see the story this is inspired by, look it up. It's in this Author's Note. Frankly, it gets less attention than it should. It's a wonderful piece and is definitely a show of good writing. I highly recommend it if you want some short military grade Fluff. Anyway, enough of that, I think it's time to get...onto the story!**

Judy Hopps stood to the side of a microphone stand next to her friend Nick Wilde. She was feeling incredibly nervous, having solved the Savage Mammals case, and now she was to do a press conference in it's wake. She watched Bogo talk about how the missing mammals had been found, paw by her mouth.

"Urghh, I'm so nervous." She said, hearing Nick push off the raised decoration behind her.

"Okay. Press conference one-oh-one." She heard him say, turning to face him as he bent over slightly to look her in the eye. "You want to look smart, answer their question with your own question and then answer that question." He said, gesturing with his paws and standing back up straight. When he saw her slightly confused expression, he held up an imaginary microphone. "Like this. Excuse me, Officer Hopps. Uh, what can you tell us about the case?" He said, moving to indicate he was pretending to be her. "Well, was this a tough case? Yes. Yes it was. Do you see?" He asked, gesturing to her.

"You should be up there with me." She said, Nick leaning against the decoration and placing his left paw on his right arm. "We did this together."

"Well, am I a cop? No. No I am not." He said, grin reaching his face.

"Hmm, funny you should say that." She said, reaching behind her. "Because uh, well I've been thinking, it would be nice to have a partner." She said, unfolding the yellow paper in her paws and showing it to him. His eyes widened, just a smidge, as he saw it was a police application form. He blinked, looked from the paper to her, then back to the paper and slowly reached out and took it, surprise evident on his face. He looked up at her, muzzle parting a small amount. "Here. In case you need something to write with." She said, holding up her carrot recorder pen. She held it out to him, his muzzle parting further as he took it. He closed his muzzle, looking at the pen in his paw and smiling at her gratefully.

"Officer Hopps." Somebody whispered, Judy turning and Nick looking up, to see Assistant Mayor Bellwether gesturing to her. "It's time." She said, Judy turning to face the still smiling Nick and crossing her fingers.

"Hehe." She said, turning and making her way to the podium.

"So now, I'll turn things over to the officer who cracked the case. Officer Judy Hopps." Chief Bogo said, turning to face the Bunny, who took a deep breath and approached. When she climbed the podium, the camera flashes and questions began almost immediately.

"Um...yes?" She asked, pointing to a Beaver.

"What can you tell us about the animals that went savage?" He asked, holding the microphone out to her.

"Well, the...the animals in question..." She trailed off, looking over at Nick. He gestured with his paw, rolling it as a sign to continue. "Are they all different species? Yes. Yes they are." She said, all the reporters looking down and scribbling notes with pens and pencils.

"Well what is the connection?" Someone asked, Judy barely catching the thumbs up Nick gave her out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, all we know is that they are all members of the predator family." She answered, already getting a bad feeling about where the questions are going.

"So, predators are the only ones going savage?" A Sheep asked, holding out his microphone.

"That is acc-yes, that is accurate." She said, pointing to him in confirmation.

"Why? Why is this happening?" A Pig asked, Judy turning to face him.

"We...still don't know." She said, the crowd looking around and murmuring breaking out. "But it may uh..." She trailed off, thinking hard. She lifted a finger when she remembered something she had heard in the Asylum. "It may have something to do with...biology." She said, hearing gasps ring out from the crowd. She didn't see Nick look up, ears raising at her answer.

"What do you mean by that?" Somebody asked, Judy hesitating for a moment.

"A biological component. You know, something in their...DNA." She answered, seeing a few reporters look around in shock. Especially a female leopard of some kind, and a tiger behind her. A gazelle raised a pen.

"In their DNA? Could you elaborate on that please?" She asked, leaning forward like Judy's answer was a possible salad made by a team of five star chefs.

"Yes. What I mean is, thousands of years ago...um...predators survived through their aggressive hunting instincts." She answered, Nick folding up the paper he held and stepping closer to get a better look at her. When he looked at the screen behind her, his gaze gained a shocked, hurt look. "For whatever reason, they seem to be reverting back to primitive, savage ways." She said, Nick watching the screen as it showed various savage mammals with muzzles, until it came across what appeared to be a wolf with an expression that seemed...sad, like it knew what was happening in some part of it's brain. He began hyperventilating, memories of his past coming back to the surface with each passing second. As his eyes glistened slightly, he steeled his expression, determined to hear the end of this and confront Judy. "It is possible...so we must be vigilant. And we at the ZPD are prepared and are here to protect you." She said, the crowd coming closer in last bid attempts to get questions in.

"Okay, thank you officer Hopps. That's all the time that we have. No more questions." Bellwether said, rushing up and escorting Judy from the podium. When they reached the edge of the stairs, Judy looked at the ewe.

"Was I okay?" She asked, worried she had messed up somehow.

"Oh you did fine." Bellwether said, Judy nodding quickly and making her way back towards Nick, who had gone back to where he had stood when she had went up to the podium.

"Oh! That went so fast, I didn't get a chance to mention you or say anything about how we-" She was cut off by the Fox raising his paw.

"Oh I think you said plenty." He said, Judy looking confused by his tone and words.

"What do you mean?" She asked, eyes narrowing slightly in her confusion.

"'Clearly there is a biological component'? 'These predators may be reverting back to their primitive, savage ways'? Are you serious?" He asked, incredulous at how confused she seemed by his statement.

"I just stated the facts of the case!" She said, pointing to herself, confused about where this outburst was coming from. "I mean, it's not like a Bunny could go savage." She said, ignoring the way Nick seemed to flinch slightly at her statement.

"Right. But a Fox could, huh?" He asked, Judy looking hurt by his question.

"Nick, stop it! You're not like them." She said, Nick looking even angrier at that.

"Oh there's a _them_ now?" He asked, Judy sighing.

"You know what I mean! You're not that kind of predator!" She said, even more confused than she was when this started.

"The kind that needs to be muzzled? The kind that makes you think you need to carry around Fox Repellent?" He asked, gesturing to the canister on her hip and bending over. She looked, letting out a breath of sadness. "Yeah, don't think I didn't notice that little item the first time we met." He said, standing up as she looked at him, defeated. "So, let me ask you a question." He said, looking her straight in the eye. "Are you afraid of me?" He asked, Judy looking at him with an incredulous expression. "Do you think I might go nuts? Think I might go savage?" He asked, lip curling slightly and gesturing with his paws. "You think I might try to...EAT YOU!?" He asked, baring his teeth slightly and gesturing like he was about to attack. When Judy held out a paw, took a step back, and flipped the safety pin on her pouch carrying the Fox Repellent with a gasp, he felt his heart shatter. He raised himself up, unable to take his eyes off the canister her paw hovered over. "I knew it." He said, scoffing and watching as realization dawned on Judy's face at what she had done. She looked down, a noise similar to a self-loathing gasp escaping her. "Just when I thought somebody actually believed in me, huh?" He said, reaching behind him and handing her a slip of paper. "Probably best if you don't have a predator as a partner." He said, walking off. She opened the paper, seeing it was the officer application form. She looked up in time to see him crumple something up and toss it down.

"No!" She said to herself, running after him. When the reporters tried to surround her, she broke through, tearing out the door and after Nick. "Nick!" She shouted, seeing him stop and look back briefly, before running around a corner. She followed, turning the corner and speeding after him. "Nick!" She shouted again, weaving between mammals as she tried to keep up with him. When it became clear he wasn't going to listen, she resorted to something she had hoped to never use on him. Ever. "Somebody stop that Fox!" She shouted, pointing out Nick. The effect was immediate. As a Giraffe tripped him, a Hippo grabbed him and held him against themselves, allowing Judy to catch up.

"So that's what you're willing to resort to." He said, a defeated tone that hurt her making her wipe her eyes briefly.

"You can let him go. I've got this." She said, the Hippo making sure she had a hold of Nick before letting him go. As she walked him out of the crowd, he only seemed to deflate more and more.

"I thought the station was the other way." He said, Judy sighing.

"We aren't going to the station." She said, Nick blinking and looking at her with a confused look. He let it drop, entering an apartment complex as he was told to do, walking into the elevator. "Fifth floor, please." She said, Nick pressing the button. When the doors pinged open, he allowed her to escort him to a room. She opened it, letting him walk inside as she turned to close the door. When the door closed, he rounded on her. Grabbed her by the shirt collar and lifted her up to eye level.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just throw you out that window right now!" He ordered, gesturing to the window at the opposite end of the room. Judy, for her part, managed to keep a straight face.

"Because then I'd never know if you felt the same." She said, giving Nick pause as he blinked.

"What?" He asked, bringing her closer. She saw her chance, and she took it. She placed her paws on either side of his muzzle and pressed her lips against his, hearing his sharp intake of breath. When she broke away, she saw Nick looking at her with a confused expression.

"I love you, Nick Wilde." She said, Nick looking like he wanted to say something. After a few moments of trying, he gave up and let her fall to the floor. "I'm sorry for what I said, earlier. It was wrong, selfish, and I wasn't thinking. But I can't let you go, Nick. Not now. Not after what we've gone through." She said, grasping his paw in her own.

"You're right." He said, pulling his paw from hers and backing away. "It was wrong, selfish, and you weren't thinking." He said, Judy blinking.

"Nick, I..." She trailed off when he held up a paw, fearing where this was going.

"Are you afraid of me?" He asked, Judy staring at him in shock. She really didn't want this conversation to happen right now.

"Nick, no. Why would you think that?" She asked, seeing him arch an eyebrow. "Okay. Okay. Instinctually, yes." She said, seeing Nick look away. She stepped forward, grasping his paw again. When he didn't pull away, she held it up. "But...I've always been a bit of a thrill junkie." She said, Nick looking at her in surprise at her statement, as if he wouldn't have connected her with that. "And that's part of why I love you." She said, earning a quick, small smile from Nick.

"And the other reasons?" He asked, Judy tilting her head in pretend thought.

"Just love." She said, shrugging.

"Good enough, I suppose." Nick said, wrapping her in a hug.

"I really am sorry, you know. I'm not just saying it so you can feel better." She said, Nick sighing.

"I know. Just...stop talking about it." He said, Judy nodding slightly.

 _One year later_

Judy entered Precinct One, smiling broadly. As her partner, both on the force and in their private lives, entered behind her, she turned.

"Come on, Nick! Role Call starts in exactly seventy point five seconds!" She said, Nick rolling his eyes as she hopped off. He followed at a walk, entering the Bullpen and taking his and Judy's seat, exactly two seconds before Bogo walked in.

After he gave the other officers their assignments, he looked at the both of them.

"Sergeant Judy Wilde-Hopps." He said, Judy perking up.

"Yes, sir?" She asked, Nick not liking the small smile that twitched on the Chief's lips before disappearing.

"Parking duty."

 **And that does it for this oneshot. This is a more Fluffy version of a story I uploaded to AO3. Want to read it? My account is the same there as it is here. I hope you guys liked it, because I enjoyed writing it. The other version...there's no coming back from that, is there? But yeah. I worked on this immediately after finishing the trio of chapters I uploaded for Zootopian Assassins, and I finished it surprisingly quickly. Only reason I didn't upload it earlier last night is because I was tired and I got a call about a Copperhead at this person's house this morning. I run a Problem Snake Removal company. Searched for five hours before I found it. And it was a Northern Banded Water Snake. You have no idea how pissed I was at the man. I purposefully let the snake strike me in front of the man, and then lectured him in the difference between a venomous snake and the harmless Water Snake that was currently chewing the hell out of my arm. And yes, it hurt. A** ** _lot._** **But, I was paid well, and the man offered to clean the wound when the snake decided to let go. I refused, obviously, but my god was it satisfying to see the man stare as my arm dripped blood, all the while I had a straight face, and I made sure to get into the fine details of telling the difference between venomous and non-venomous snakes, as well as the differences between venom and poison. I swear I get way too much satisfaction drilling customers on these things. I took the snake to a lake, and let it go. It turned, hissed at me, and then dove into the water. Sorry to unload on you guys, especially about this kinds of stuff, but I needed to vent and I was already writing so...yeah. But, make sure to please leave a Review or Comment telling me how I can do better, because I intend to write more Fluff sometime soon. Maybe even more smut. Anyway, that does it for this oneshot, and I'll see you guys...next update.**


End file.
